Dr Melanie King - Ancient Light: Eagles Nest, Hunza, Pakistan, 2022.
Ilford Delta 3200, B+W Film Photograph
Ancient Light: Rematerialising The Astronomical Image (2015-2024) emerges from Dr Melanie King's recently completed practice-based PhD. Ancient Light comprises of analogue photographs of the night sky, produced in several dark sky locations. In this body of work, Melanie captured light that had travelled for thousands, if not millions of years, onto photographic film. To produce these images, she participated in residencies away from light pollution. During this period of study, she collaborated with the University College London and Kielder Observatories. As King's project considered the intimate connection between the cosmos and earthly materiality, many of the resultant works were produced using sustainable photographic paper developers and cyanotype-based processes. You can read King's thesis and view her adjacent portfolio on the Royal College of Art website. This project was published as a photo book by XYZ Books in June 2025, accompanied by an essay written by Professor Val Williams.
Dr Melanie King is an artist and curator of working class origin. King grew up in Manchester and is now based in Kent, UK.
She is co-Director of super/collider, Lumen Studios and founder of the London Alternative Photography Collective. Melanie is Lecturer In Photography at Canterbury Christ Church University. She has recently completed her PhD at the Royal College of Art. She is represented by the Land Art Agency. Melanie is interested in the relationship between the environment, photography and materiality. In her work, Melanie intends to highlight the intimate connection between photographic materials and the natural world. Melanie is currently researching several sustainable photographic processes, to minimise the environmental impact of her artistic practice.
Dr Melanie King - Ancient Light: Eagles Nest, Hunza, Pakistan, 2022.
Ilford Delta 3200, B+W Film Photograph
Ancient Light: Rematerialising The Astronomical Image (2015-2024) emerges from Dr Melanie King's recently completed practice-based PhD. Ancient Light comprises of analogue photographs of the night sky, produced in several dark sky locations. In this body of work, Melanie captured light that had travelled for thousands, if not millions of years, onto photographic film. To produce these images, she participated in residencies away from light pollution. During this period of study, she collaborated with the University College London and Kielder Observatories. As King's project considered the intimate connection between the cosmos and earthly materiality, many of the resultant works were produced using sustainable photographic paper developers and cyanotype-based processes. You can read King's thesis and view her adjacent portfolio on the Royal College of Art website. This project was published as a photo book by XYZ Books in June 2025, accompanied by an essay written by Professor Val Williams.
Dr Melanie King is an artist and curator of working class origin. King grew up in Manchester and is now based in Kent, UK.
She is co-Director of super/collider, Lumen Studios and founder of the London Alternative Photography Collective. Melanie is Lecturer In Photography at Canterbury Christ Church University. She has recently completed her PhD at the Royal College of Art. She is represented by the Land Art Agency. Melanie is interested in the relationship between the environment, photography and materiality. In her work, Melanie intends to highlight the intimate connection between photographic materials and the natural world. Melanie is currently researching several sustainable photographic processes, to minimise the environmental impact of her artistic practice.